Sideloading and Kodi work on new 2nd-Gen Amazon Fire TV

Now that the new Amazon Fire TV has made its way to the hands of customers, I’ve received several reports that sideloading apps onto the new 2nd generation Fire TV is fully supported. More specifically, several people have told me that they had no problems installing Kodi on the new Fire TV.

There are a few conveniences that don’t quite work yet as a result of Fire OS 5. For starters, reassigning an app to launch Kodi with Llama does not work anymore. Also, as we’ve known for a while, FireStarter’s detection of the home button has issues with Fire OS 5. Firestarter’s developer is aware of the issue and is waiting for the final version of Fire OS 5 to be released before working on a fix. In the meantime, he suggests trying to toggle ADB off and then on again anytime you restart the Fire TV, to possibly make FireStarter’s home button detection work again.

Once developers and more of the Fire TV community get their hands on the new hardware and Fire OS 5, I’m sure these minor inconveniences will be worked out. The good news is, Amazon has not done anything to block sideloading or Kodi on the new Fire TV.

You may get refresh rate switching, but it may only be for 24fps. That is the limitation of Android 5.x. I’m not sure about the Nexus Player, but the Shield can now playback at 23.976, but that’s only because the APIs were backported from Marshmallow (6.0).

On the contrary, this is not good news. He’s just confirmed that this update is as broken as the last. Installing Kodi has never been an issue. Launching it is. There is no evidence of progress in getting llama or firestarter working without massive inconvenience. The whole thing is a complete and utter shambles.

Saying it’s “a complete and utter shamble” is a bit melodramatic. Two apps are partially not working. When you jump ahead from API level 17 to level 22, some things are going to break. Have faith that Amazon and developers will fix things.

Yes, two apps, one of either we absolutely rely on to have a bearable Kodi experience. The preview has been out long enough we have to assume what we have now is what we get. Unless you know something the rest of us don’t.

Firestarter has been updated in months. Llama in over a year. Amazon has no interest in either, and if anything seem to have a vendetta against Kodi.

Riiiiiight, cuz Amazon purposely broke Llama and FireStarter to hurt Kodi. Oh please. First off, Llama is not a Fire TV app. You should be happy it worked at all up until now. If ur going to complain, then complain to Llama’s developers and ask them to officially support the Fire TV. Secondly, FireStarter is a hack at best. It works by making internal ADB connections to read system log files. Both are big no-nos in app development. It broke because it was just barely working to begin with.

Having given up on the bugfest that was the first preview, and hearing that all the things that mattered most are still broken, while only uninteresting gimmickry like Alexa has been added, I can’t share your excitement either. I really have no interest in asking my tv for a basic weather forecast, when bread and butter apps like BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Kodi will get broken.

Although we all are a little impatient to know something about this new FireTV unit, we are going to wait your hardware performance tests, to see if is true that this FireTV 2nd Generation, really works better or not than the 1st Generation…

Perhaps, it would be a good idea to include some initial setup tips and some recommended APPs.

why in the Sam hell do you care if you have a Netflix apk, when you have Kodi? That’s just $9 a month to keep in your pocket. I really don’t understand that philosophy at all. Give that $9 to a child in need of diapers or something.

There are people that actually care about the quality of their video streams, maybe a big enough screen? things like g*** look pretty bad, also it is much more convenient than downloading stuff to see, just sit, search and enjoy.

My prediction is that sales of the Amazon Fire TV Stick will plummet disastrously!
The set top will hold it’s own for a bit as it’s performance stats exceed the lower priced Android streaming boxes; however those too will fall as the S812 and other chipset boxes offer 16gb on board storage as standard.
Amazon dropped the ball by not using HDMI 2.0 and 60fps since this will become standard sooner than later. As it is, the set top offers HDMI 1.4@30fps, which is no better than a M8 type android box with s802 that sells for 1/2 the Amazon price.
Amazon will regret their improvements that will ultimately fall well short of the mark, despite their massive internet presence.
It’s all but run it’s course. Again, just an opinion.

This will all be corrected with the all new Amazon Fire TV 3 and then 4, 5 , 6 7, etc. This is how they make money. Things come out, then they are improved, new version and such. Same with tv’s, smartphones, cars, appliances and so on.

Kodi on Fire TV 2 is reporting a different IP address than what the box is assigned. MY home network is 192.168.0.X and it reports 192.168.49.1. Everything works with the exception of incoming connections (notifications, http, etc.). I never had this problem before and I was wondering if I was unique or if the new OS is setting up it’s own NAT to wall off the apps.

Rob,
I experienced the same issue, but I couldnt get either DD or DTS. The only way I could get sound was to turn off passthrough in Kodi itself, which in turn only gave me stereo, and believe me, it sounds really crappy on a 7.1 home theatre.
Funnily enough I cant get surround on the Netflix app either, that also only plays in stereo. The only app that I could get surround on was Amazon prime movies. So I dont know what they have recoded, but it has had a profound impact upon the sonic capability

I am a very recent AFTV user, having bought the stick last week and buying the brand new AFTV yesterday. Of course, i already installed KODI. However, it is not as smooth as I thought it would be, but it is still great!

Here are my thoughts:
1. the FTVS is a bit slower, but still totally usable. This is expected, due to the dual core processor. Video playback is great, but there is some judder. I believe it is due to an incorrect sync setting (as 720p TV shows play flawlessly) and not due to the processor – still will be testing.

2. The FTV2 is a beast, and regardless of it not playing 4k@60fps or more fps choices it is still the best to get (IMO). I mean the box is $100 – super cheap compared to other boxes! Anyway, I cannot install llama, but what I did install was firestarter. Make sure the “Jump” option is disabled, because it caused flickering. However, with my harmony remote it is now my go to box. Still need to mess around with the fps thing. Oh and the passthrough on kodi 15.2 RC3 is broken – it is just a machine gun sound / static. I am sure that will be fixed in future versions.

Wow so many negative comments from people who don’t even have the new Fire TV.I have it, Netflix works with no issues, Kodi works and works great, pass through works with my 5.1, side loading apps has no issues, its quick and responsive. Firestarter works with the fix but I uninstalled it and will wait until there’s a new version, until then what’s the big deal about going to the settings and starting it? It takes a few seconds longer? Big deal, Kodi is free just enjoy it. I love the new Fire TV works great for me.

no, I don’t think llama will ever get the update to be compatible with fireOS5.
We must move on and adapt.
On a plus side, Fireos5 recent 5.2.1.0 update is now showing sideloaded apps in top screen recent apps menu, so that’s great news to launch kodi right away. And Firestarter for older Fireos5.0.5 rooted and/or nonrooted rom versions is the best alternative to use Kodi and launch with a double home press.